I am something of a rebel: I like birthdays. I like feeling like a princess for a day, the birthday song, and the excuse to eat cake. In fact, I find eating birthday cake to be one of the most personalized American traditions: the birthday person gets to enjoy their sweet treat with hand-picked friends and family. However, birthday cake does have its drawbacks, among them its tooth-decay-promoting sugar content. Is there a way to make birthday cake that tastes good yet doesn’t promote cavities?

There are three types of sugars: intrinsic sugar and milk sugar (which occur naturally in plants and milk, respectively), and extrinsic or “refined” sugar, which is added to food during manufacture or preparation. Refined sugar is the type of sugar that causes tooth decay, since it provides fuel on which the bacteria in plaque can feed. Using unrefined sugars (including honey, molasses, unevaporated unrefined cane juice, fruit juices and purees, rice syrup, or plant-derived sweeteners such as Xylitol and Stevia) can help keep tooth decay at bay.

Try using one of these sweeteners in a lighter cake, since guests will not expect the same sugar rush they would get from a richer cake. Try angel food cake, pound cake, or fruit-based cakes (think apple cake and pineapple upside-down cake), which provide the perfect base for almost any topping. To add flavor and pizzazz to your cake mix, experiment with adding fresh fruit purees, raisins, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla extract. To make a low-sugar frosting alternative, try topping your cake with reduced-sugar Cool Whip®, sugar-free pudding, fresh fruit (chopped or pureed), or even sorbet. Or, sprinkle the cake with some cinnamon and nuts.

With a little creativity, you can make a great-tasting, original birthday cake while protecting your teeth.